MySphera guide to high quality content as explained by content creators.
Updated: May 9, 2022
table of content:
Introduction:
Creating a high quality content is a challenge most creators face.
From finding the perfect idea, adding the right copy or image, to understanding which format will drive the most traffic - mastering content creation is hard work, that takes time and practice.
First, there is a huge gap between uploading any content to uploading high-quality content - a digital asset that will lead new audiences & engage existing ones.
Secondly, many think high-quality content is equal to nice visuals. That's only part of the story, visuals are only one factor out of many.
In our opinion, high-quality content means 3 things;
1. Content that engages your current audience, and drives your users for a certain action - Purchase, subscription or listen for example.
2. Content that drives new people to become fans - from viewers to followers.
3. Content that sparks a discussion or viral reaction: Comments, shares, etc.
The problem is, content is much more than just an image, video or text. Content involves ideation, creation & promotion.
What does that mean?
Ideation - The concept, theme or subject for your content.
Creation - How to wrap your in the most effective way. It could be finding cool visuals, using a unique feature or inventing a new format.
Promotion - Amplifying the impact of your content, how to make it reach the most eyes possible. There is a lot of amazing content and a finite amount of eyeballs. Without promotion your content will have limited reach.
Our Example for high-quality content:
If you're looking for an amazing case study, check out the story of Verzuz - A live showdown between two artists catalogs. We feel it's a prime example of a great idea, perfect creation / execution & top promotion efforts.
We feel that the best way of learning is through experience. So, we sat down for a short interview with a few creators we love and asked them for tips & ideas.
A big thanks for Anna Awe, Peter Spacey & Edgar Allan Poets (EAP) for their time and answers.
Which aspect of creating content for your socials do you find most challenging, and why (ideation, creation, promotion)?
Peter Spacey: "Promotion is the aspect that I find most challenging. As a creator, I’m coming up with ideas flawlessly every day, every minute, so ideation comes up pretty naturally. This is the same case with creation, which is another huge part of what I do.
Promotion is kinda out of my native zone and profession. That's why it's
the one aspect out of the 3 which I’m constantly developing.
More so, sometimes I'll use an external source - a specialist, service or a platform.
I’m an independent artist and doing everything by myself, so it’s not a real barrier, I work it out and it’s part of the whole 360 that I'm taking care of daily.
But if I had to choose the most challenging one out of those 3, this would be the one."
EAP: "Usually creation, I need to find the right visuals and words to describe a song or a piece of art."
Anna: "One of the biggest challenges of creating content for my socials is getting people to click the links, or follow another call to action. I do get good engagement with the posts themselves, but people don’t always click to listen to a full track or playlist.
Another challenge is how time consuming creating posts can be. I am first and foremost a singer/songwriter and DJ/playlist curator. That is where I try to commit most of my time and energy. But, it can take hours just to find the right font and set up animation for an Instagram post."
How do you manage your social content timeline?
Peter Spacey: "I’m actually starting from the big picture, managing my future timeline and then, the social content timeline will be derived out of it.
Let's say I have a release scheduled for next month, first I'll create a list of things that I should do:
2 weeks prior to the release date | Share pre-save link |
On release day | Sharing the album art with the multilink |
First days after the release date | Video content featuring the process of working on the release with a link to the music. |
Week after the release date | Extra visual content such as Music Visualizer to Music Video |
Month after the release date | Sharing some highlights related to the release: articles/blog posts, playlist Placements, user generated content & fan art (Video Creators, TikTok/Influencers…) |
I use this timeline to manage the social content timeline in case of a music release.
In addition - I post studio time clips of just beat making and playing from time to time, it can be up to 2-3 in a week. I post photos & videos with updates about upcoming events (Live shows, Releases, Master Classes…).
And lastly, every 2nd Saturday I go live from the studio, making music / Djing / sharing the creative process.
It’s kinda fluid but it depends on actual stuff that happens during the month, with some anchors that I'm always trying to keep up with.
Always remember to be consistent, work with scheduling tools, and be fluid to what is coming up!"
EAP: I use a lot of the Stories on Instagram and Facebook and I do 2 posts a day on Facebook Feeds, less on Instagram feed and I tweet once a day. I share also all of my content on Pinterest.
Anna: "I use a software called HootSuite which automates the posting process.
Every Sunday, I program most of my posts for that week. I divide up my posts into announcements about my own music releases/performances, and links/adds to my playlists. Every day, I also post links to my music on different platforms. That way, if someone prefers one streaming service over another, they know my music is there as well."
On which platforms do you typically share your content?
Peter Spacey: "I guess Instagram is my main platform for sharing content. I love using Instagrams' diverse tools, matching the content and the way I would like to present it - posts, Reels, Stories, and the different features inside the stories.
For example, sharing new Spotify release on my Stories, linking to external sites, reposting and tagging, hashtags, ask a question or creating a poll.
Facebook can also be a good tool when it comes to sharing with different groups of interests and reaching out to relevant communities.
Discord is nice, but I think it’s most effective if you have your own community and page around you and your brand, instead of sharing things in other communities.
I’m sharing on Reddit from time to time and it’s cool, exposing to new fans and people but this platform is better for other stuff like knowledge sharing and professional conversations."
Anna: I post regularly on Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, Facebook, Linkedin and YouTube.
How do your fans engage/react with the content that you're posting?
EAP: "Usually the like, share and comment, obviously the content is the key, strong content a lot of engagement."
Anna: "Fans generally react positively to my content, whether it be a like or a comment like “I love the vibe of this song”. I frequently get requests to sing on other people’s songs when they hear my vocals in a post. If I post about a playlist, often I get new artists wanting to submit to the playlist. Also, fans always love a good shout out or tag."
For which purposes do you typically share content (e.g. share news, gain more traffic, increase monetization, etc.)?
Peter Spacey: "When sharing content it's often related to two main things:
Sharing news - things that happened and I want to share with my audience, and things that will happen and I want my audience to know about.
Gaining more traffic - sharing studio-time pictures and videos, sharing my knowledge, using hashtags to gain traffic, and promoting to expand my digital social circles."
Edgar Allen Poets: "I share things that I like and I do that for Brand Awareness and gain more traffic on my webpage but also to suggest cool music."
Anna: "I typically share content to increase my reach as a music artist/curator and continue to engage, inform and entertain my existing audience."
What do you find most challenging with creating engaging content?
Peter Spacey: "The most challenging aspect of creating engaging content is finding the right strategy that will maximize my "Call To Action".
My goal is to make people react, comment and converse when they see my posts. That's why I'm always experimenting with different tools. This way I utilize each tool / feature for a specific task - it could be a Reels or sharing a poll or quiz IG story."
Anna: "The biggest challenge in creating engaging content is to balance novelty with repetition. If I post the same graphic, song or link over and over people might get bored, but if I post something just once it may get forgotten or missed by a large portion of my audience."
Can you give an example for a content creator that inspires you, and why?
Peter Spacey: "The Kount - posting solid and consistent beat-making videos and made a super cool challenge #kountchallenge. For his challenge he encouraged other creators to use his videos to make their own. I love his music, I love his attitude, the way it looks/sounds, and the brilliant strategy that made tons of people participate, make their own stuff using his videos, and how it helped him spread his works and brand.
Also, Kenny beats is super dedicated and makes tons of stuff, content & collaborations. There is a cool documentary on how he built his brand on 'The Fader' Youtube Channel.
I highly recommend getting some inspiration of how this dude became a content factory and built/ran his business.
There is also, Ill Mind, who just launched producers marketplace called Kitsi (drum kits and sample packs) platform based on ETH/BTC, free to join, made by producers, for producers.
Lastly, I’m most inspired by artists who are also Entrepreneurs, from Will-I-Am, through Bjork to Dr. Dre. These are innovators who think of new ideas and create new platforms and tools to expand the boundaries using technology to interact and reach out."
EAP: "There are two profiles that come to mind; UnexplainedFeed & The Horror Gallery.
Both profiles fit my theme. As my project is inspired by Edgar Allan Poe I'm looking for profiles with somewhat of a "Spooky" mood."
What's your biggest tip for someone who's struggling to create content for their socials?
"No one is born good at anything and the way to get to quality is by making quantity." Peter Spacey
Anna: "Go back to what it is that you do or are passionate about, and create content around that. If you are a music artist, post about songs, releases and performances. Create variation with your content if it is limited.
For example, if you just have one song out, post a clip to the recorded version, another clip about your writing process, another to thank a curator for adding your song to their playlist, and another with a live performance of that song."
EAP: "Be organized, watch what others do, and try to do it better. You need to find format that is sustainable during a long period f time. If to create content you spend many hours after one week you will not do it anymore. If you find a way to create a cool content fast that's the key, this is the winning factor for Khaby Lame. Simple and easy."
Peter Spacey: "My biggest tip for someone who’s struggling with anything regarding creating (if it’s coming up with the first idea / later on during the creative process, or in the last stage of sharing out the idea with the world) it’s:
Let it go! Don’t judge, even don’t think much. Trust your intuition and go with it (and Watch out of the ‘perfection’ illusion/trap). I'm not saying strategy is important. But if you are stuck, this is probably what is blocking you.
Making stuff and putting them out is the most important thing. After a while of making quantity - the quality starts happening by itself. No one is born good at anything and the way to get to quality is by making quantity.
After doing and sharing with the world, I’ll suggest looking back, you will reveal your signature, your voice. Constantly refine it and keep it going.
Be unique, find your voice, the things that you are strong at, and the most valuable way to contribute to others.
It can be making music, it can be sharing your knowledge, it can be sharing other people's stuff but with your own curation & flare. Think of creating value as the no. 1 goal and things will happen from there by themselves."
Which tools are you using to generate your content for socials?
Peter Spacey: "I’m using a lot of applications and platforms when creating content for my socials:
VideoLeap is my go-to app for editing videos. I no longer edit with my computer only on my phone!
I’m using Canva for graphic design. Super easy-to-use with great tools, templates and triggers that help come up with ideas.
Renderforest - a great platform to make music visualizers and animated videos for almost any purpose.
Multilink landing pages - Toneden and Linkfire for every release."
EAP: "I use Photoshop, Finalcut, Logic Audio Pro. As I started exploring the field of NFTs so I'm on a lookout for tools that'll help me create better & bigger collections. You can check out my first collection on OpenSea - Virtual Poe."
Anna: "I frequently use Canva and FinalCut to design my posts. I also have a subscription to Adobe Suite, but I need to spend more time with the platform."
Conclusion:
That's all for the interview, thank you all so much for sharing your tips and insights about your content creating habits.
And before you go, if you need help with stepping up your content, be sure to sign up for our new product - MySphera Spins.
We built Spins to help you give your fans the opportunity to make an impact, share their take on your music picks - helping you boost engagement, create viral loops & gain audience insights.